Should teachers hit students? Case highlights teacher/student/parent relationships in Thailand

[webfact]

Sanook Thai Caption: Teacher feels discouraged

 

Sanook reported on yet another case of a teacher hitting a student in a Thai school.

 

Some will say it's nothing - "I was given a clip around the ear as a child and it never did me any harm".

 

Others will say a teacher should never raise their hand to a pupil EVER - it is a sign of a bad teacher who can't properly control a class with words. 

 

This case encapsulates the relationship between teachers, parents, students and directors in Thai schools. 

 

And the acceptance that casual violence against children is acceptable. 

 

Things are very different in international schools in Thailand, notes ASEAN NOW.

 

It came to light after a post on social media in a clip that showed a computer studies class at a school in Sriracha, Chonburi, central Thailand.

 

A female teacher hits a student around the ear.

 

The poster said they shouldn't have done that.

 

Sanook went to Thai Kasikorn Songkro school where they met acting director Sittichoke Sridee, Natcha, a computer science teacher and Wanwisa, 40, the parent of a M2 boy.

 

They were later joined by the boy.

 

It happen two weeks ago. 

 

The teacher said three boys had arrived late to class and couldn't remember their log in details and were told to go to the front of the class.

 

One was hit - the teacher called it "just a slap".

 

She didn't think anything of it, and she claimed neither did the boy.

 

Then it was on social media after a fellow pupil filmed it - it was all very discouraging, she claimed.

 

 

The director praised the teacher for being dedicated and able to control the class.

 

The parent said that it was fine to hit her child to bring him into line. 

 

The boy said he didn't mind and it was nothing. 

 

A former teacher at an international school told ASEAN NOW:

 

"If that happened at an international school the teacher would be sacked. Or at the very least not have their contract renewed after an investigation.

 

"There is no place for any kind of violence in the classroom and someone who does this can't control a student with words and should not be teaching.

 

Picture: Sanook

 

"What goes on in Thai schools may be different but assault is assault no matter what.

 

"What do you expect the boy in the incident to say except that he was in the wrong and it's okay.

 

"He is powerless in the face of officialdom and deserves protection".

 

The debate goes on about the role of teachers in schools in Thailand.

 

In this story the media is sympathetic to the school and the teacher after hearing the explanations and the agreement of the parent.

 

But should not the fundamental person who should be protected be the student no matter what they might have done in the class?

 

What is your opinion?

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-08-09

 

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[Photoguy21]

No they shouldn't. It is assault no matter which way you look at it.

[2baht]

It's a Thai thing, let them work it out!

[proton]

They should only hit the naughty ones ????

[lupin]

What a ludicrous question... but ok, as long as the students can hit back then have at it

[Geoffggi]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

Others will say a teacher should never raise their hand to a pupil EVER - it is a sign of a bad teacher who can't properly control a class with words.

To some degree I agree with this statement, however, if the parents do not educate and discipline the said students at home the teachers are on a sticky wicket so to speak.

[JonnyF]

There is no place for teachers hitting children. Just as there is no place for police officers hitting children, doctors hitting children, monks hitting children etc.

 

It can also lead to retaliatory action, by parents or pupils. I had a friend who was slapped by a teacher in front of the class at the age of 9-10 for saying he didn't want to take part in the school play. Several years later after a few beers at the local pub, he brought up the incident still clearly aggrieved by it and I had to talk him out of going round to the teacher's house (whose address we knew since he was a parent of another pupil in the school) to beat the living daylights out of him.

 

Similarly, it wouldn't surprise me to see one of these teachers in Thailand badly beaten (or worse) by an enraged parent. It should be stopped immediately by sacking offending teachers with no recourse, and no pension.

 

 

[Photoguy21]

25 minutes ago, 2baht said:

It's a Thai thing, let them work it out!

You could say that about many things in history but it doesnt make them right.

[Tropicalevo]

My wife was a teacher at an International school.

One morning the father of a Thai student gave her a rolled up newspaper and told her to hit the child with it if the child was naughty. This was a child in kindergarten.

My wife politely refused the request.

[JoePai]

Never did me any harm - with a cane across my finger tips (ouch) and blackboard rubbers being launched with the precision of a guided missile to ones head

[SoilSpoil]

One of the reasons we are homeschooling our children. I have worked in Thailand as a teacher in the past, and made a promise to myself to never enroll my kids in the fascist Thai education system. The wacking is just one, but the non stop yelling, looking down on kids, millitary style morning assemblies, and so on, convinced me. My kids are happy, are able to express their feelings, have no fear to talk to grown ups, travel a lot and develop so many other skills. They study just 1 hour a day (full focus), thats all whats needed to keep up with the curriculum.

 

Good luck to the dinosaurs

[proton]

2 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

One of the reasons we are homeschooling our children. I have worked in Thailand as a teacher in the past, and made a promise to myself to never enroll my kids in the fascist Thai education system. The wacking is just one, but the non stop yelling, looking down on kids, millitary style morning assemblies, and so on, convinced me. My kids are happy, are able to express their feelings, have no fear to talk to grown ups, travel a lot and develop so many other skills. They study just 1 hour a day (full focus), thats all whats needed to keep up with the curriculum.

 

Good luck to the dinosaurs

You save on all those uniforms as well!

[PJ71]

38 minutes ago, 2baht said:

It's a Thai thing, let them work it out!

I agree, up to them.....

[FritsSikkink]

32 minutes ago, Geoffggi said:

To some degree I agree with this statement, however, if the parents do not educate and discipline the said students at home the teachers are on a sticky wicket so to speak.

If you can't control kids without hitting them, you shouldn't be a teacher. I discipline my kids without the need to hit them and they will behave. Any teacher who hits my kids will end up in hospital. 

[pattjock]

No one should hit anyone, full stop.

[stoner]

who wrote this article ? good grief to even pose that question.

 

you're fired !!

[djayz]

It's a slippery slope this one. Although I don't agree with teachers hitting students, we can see the consequences of corporal punishment being banned completely in many of the youth today. They know they can do whatever they want and get away with it Scott free. We see this in many of our home countries. That having been said, I think the main reason corporal punishment was banned is because some teachers couldn't control themselves and administered too much punishment. They went overboard. As a consequence, it had to be prohibited. 

A "healthy" balance would be the ideal solution, but we don't live in a perfect world. 

I got the odd clip around the ear and ruler down the palms of my hands as a young lad and I turned out okay. More times than not, I deserved it.

"Corporal punishment vs. undisciplined thugs" or is it a case of "out of control teachers vs. innocent students"? 

 

[mania]

Quote

Should teachers hit students?

As long as they as teachers realize what this is teaching the kids

So later in life if they think someone is doing wrong they should also hit that someone

 

[Saddic]

 

[connda]

Corporal punishment was alive and well in both the British and US schools I attended back in the 50s and 60s.  Rite of passage.  "The Paddle." 
You'd get a lick or so and then laugh it off with your friends.

Do I endorse it?  No. 

Especially when I hear about teachers smashing kids in the head and face and otherwise criminally assaulting them.  Status: Teacher "High"; Student "Low" - so if the teacher feels 'disrespected' or is just moody it seems to be an excuse to physically abuse their students.  These teacher lack self-control and probably should not be in a classroom.

[recom273]

1 hour ago, SoilSpoil said:

One of the reasons we are homeschooling our children. I have worked in Thailand as a teacher in the past, and made a promise to myself to never enroll my kids in the fascist Thai education system. The wacking is just one, but the non stop yelling, looking down on kids, millitary style morning assemblies, and so on, convinced me. My kids are happy, are able to express their feelings, have no fear to talk to grown ups, travel a lot and develop so many other skills. They study just 1 hour a day (full focus), thats all whats needed to keep up with the curriculum.

 

Good luck to the dinosaurs

Is homeschooling an option here?

 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, JoePai said:

Never did me any harm - with a cane across my finger tips (ouch) and blackboard rubbers being launched with the precision of a guided missile to ones head

Ah... the good old fashioned seatbelt reply......    as in “I never wore a seat belt in a car and I’m ok”....

 

 

Times were obviously different back then...   but that doesn’t make hitting children right or any more acceptable, we (as a society) know better now. 

 

 

 

[seajae]

only if the parent is allowed to hit the teacher back when they find out, no teacher should ever hit a student, it is assault

[NativeBob]

14 minutes ago, recom273 said:

Is homeschooling an option here?

 

Good question. One can pull his kid from school, do "homeschooling" ok, but I don't think it would be qualified or acknowledged as an education. Meanwhile (as I learn with Assumption) they don't really require previous education records - just pay for (so-called) study and here you go. Same goes with Regent's IS and that uber-fancy school nearby.

So shortly - yes, you can do "homeschooling", yet latest 2 years of COVID "remote learning" went complete banana. 

[tomacht8]

Children are children and should never be hit. There are many other ways to discipline children who disrupt the learning collective. Teachers usually learn this in pedagogical seminars. But unfortunately there are some teachers who obviously have not understood the material of the pedagogy.

[Gecko123]

These self-satisfied international school teachers need to climb down off their high horses. They're almost always teaching kids from high-income two parent households. The parents provide strong role models and reinforce the value of education for their kids. Going to a school where all the other students are similarly motivated provides additional reinforcement of these values. Parents attend parent-teacher conferences and monitor their child's academic progress closely. Another factor is that these affluent families have on average fewer children, so they are able to devote more attention and resources to the children they have. Teaching at such a school is a cakewalk compared to what teachers in rural and other disadvantaged areas have to go through.

 

These teachers are trying to teach kids who rarely have two parents living in the household. Most are lucky if they have just one parent, as many are raised without either of their biological parents in the household. I was told once by the principal of my school that 40% of the kids at the school were in households without either biological parent present. The parent or guardian caring for the child often does not appreciate the value of education. In some farming households, education is not encouraged because the parents want the child to continue working the farm after the parents are too old to do so themselves. Then there is the issue of poverty which impacts nutrition, clothing, school supplies, and many other aspects of child development.

 

Because of all of this, these teachers are often forced to juggle the nurturing role of mother, the disciplinarian role of a father, and still teach. These international school teachers may see themselves as academic elites, but I'll bet they'd be tearing their hair out by the fistful or whacking kids left and right if they ever found themselves having to teach under similarly challenging conditions.

[PremiumLane]

It's a mute question as the Ministry of Education's own guidelines and rules say teachers can't hit students. 

[Thunglom]

3 hours ago, JoePai said:

 

Never did me any harm

 

apart from making you think violence to children is OK.

[Thunglom]

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

These self-satisfied international school teachers need to climb down off their high horses. They're almost always teaching kids from high-income two parent households. The parents provide strong role models and reinforce the value of education for their kids. Going to a school where all the other students are similarly motivated provides additional reinforcement of these values. Parents attend parent-teacher conferences and monitor their child's academic progress closely. Another factor is that these affluent families have on average fewer children, so they are able to devote more attention and resources to the children they have. Teaching at such a school is a cakewalk compared to what teachers in rural and other disadvantaged areas have to go through.

 

These teachers are trying to teach kids who rarely have two parents living in the household. Most are lucky if they have just one parent, as many are raised without either of their biological parents in the household. I was told once by the principal of my school that 40% of the kids at the school were in households without either biological parent present. The parent or guardian caring for the child often does not appreciate the value of education. In some farming households, education is not encouraged because the parents want the child to continue working the farm after the parents are too old to do so themselves. Then there is the issue of poverty which impacts nutrition, clothing, school supplies, and many other aspects of child development.

 

Because of all of this, these teachers are often forced to juggle the nurturing role of mother, the disciplinarian role of a father, and still teach. These international school teachers may see themselves as academic elites, but I'll bet they'd be tearing their hair out by the fistful or whacking kids left and right if they ever found themselves having to teach under similarly challenging conditions.

Clearly never been in classroom.

[ikke1959]

In a medieval society they use medieval methods too.. Hitting is normal, watch at the TV the soaps and entertainment shows.... It is a part of this society. And they don't care as students told me myself.. O no problem just hurt a bit soon over.... and than they are naughty again.. It doesn't work, only it let the violence in their lives grow.. and see what is happening day after day... not slapping, hitting, but just killing, as the violence is seen to be normal it seems